Ghanaian actor Idrissu Tontie Jr., Ghanaian-American filmmaker Amartei Armar and Egyptian filmmaker Mahmoud Assi were among the winners announced at the 79th Locarno Film Festival in Locarno, Switzerland, on Saturday, 15 August 2026. The festival ran from 5 to 15 August. Locarno describes Armar as a Ghanaian-American writer and director.
Armar’s first feature, "Ego Reach We All" ("Our Time Will Come"), received two awards. Tontie won the Pardo for Best Performance in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente, Locarno’s competition for first and second features by filmmakers at an early stage of their careers, while the film received the Pardo for Change, a CHF 20,000 prize awarded to the director.
The 105-minute film follows orphans Owusu and Adobea as they travel across Ghana seeking their last legitimate parent who would be able to bring back their identities. After reaching Accra, Ghana’s capital, they encounter the Jackals, a group of young people living on their own and relying on theft, which alters the course of their search.
Locarno’s 15 August awards announcement credits "Ego Reach We All" to Ghana, France and Saudi Arabia, while the festival’s dedicated film page lists Ghana and France as its countries of production.
Tontie was 10 when he was cast as Owusu in Armar’s 2018 short "Vagabonds." He later appeared in Armar’s "Tsutsuɛ," which competed in the Short Film Competition at the Cannes Film Festival in France in 2022.
Egyptian filmmaker Mahmoud Assi’s "Khufu" received the Pardino d’Argento Arts3 Foundation award for the International Competition in Pardi di Domani, Locarno’s competition for short and medium-length films.
The 17-minute Arabic-language film is an Egypt-France-Sweden-Canada production. Locarno’s official synopsis reads: “At the Giza Pyramids, 14-year-old Saeed and his mother Ekram face the fate of their dying camel, Khufu.”
"Khufu" was developed with support from the United Nations World Food Programme through the Eish Short Film Competition, launched in Egypt in 2024 with production company Zest and El Gouna Film Festival to support filmmakers working with stories about food security in Egypt and the Arab region. The film was produced by Zest and Fig Leaf Studios. WFP places the story in Nazlet El-Semman, the community beside the Giza Pyramids.
Zest lists its headquarters in Sheikh Zayed City in Greater Cairo, while Fig Leaf Studios was founded in Alexandria, Egypt’s Mediterranean port city, in 2005.
The festival’s top prize, the Pardo d’Oro, went to Romanian filmmaker Florin Șerban’s "Nu e locul tau aici" ("You Don't Belong Here").
Watch the teaser for “Khufu”:
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